French for “under vacuum,” the sous vide cooking method involves vacuum-sealing food into a bag and placing it into a temperature-controlled water bath. It has a handful of benefits: the specific, steady water temperature and lack of air pockets around the food ensures it cooks evenly all the way through – something that’s difficult to do on a stovetop or grill. And when you’re busy puttering around the kitchen preparing other dishes, you’ll love that the sous vide lets you set it and forget it – streamlining your prep time and keeping the oven free for other dishes.
While roasted turkey can sometimes end up dry and tough, the sous vide method guarantees juicy, tender turkey breast (or a whole turkey, if you have a big enough pot) that your guests will love.
In this guide, we’re walking you through how to make a moist sous vide Thanksgiving turkey breast without sacrificing the crispy turkey skin that many people love about a classic oven-roasted turkey—all without the worry of plastic leaching into your food (and then ultimately the ocean).
Sous vide cooking has revolutionized the way many home cooks prepare meals. This precise low-temperature technique results in turkey that is incredibly moist, tender, and flavorful – far better than traditional oven roasted turkey breast.
If you’ve never tried sous vide turkey before, you are in for a real treat! Once you discover how perfect sous vide turkey comes out, you’ll never want to cook it any other way again.
In this comprehensive guide I’ll cover everything you need to know to cook sous vide turkey breast successfully including
- Benefits of Sous Vide Turkey Breast
- Choosing the Right Temperature
- How Long to Cook
- Food Safety Tips
- Finishing for Crispy Skin
- Flavoring Your Turkey
- Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Serving Suggestions
- Sous Vide Turkey Breast Recipes
So whether you are cooking turkey breast for Thanksgiving. meal prepping healthy lunches or just want a quick weeknight dinner this guide will help you make the best sous vide turkey breast ever!
Benefits of Cooking Turkey Breast Sous Vide
Here are some of the biggest benefits of using the sous vide method for cooking turkey breast:
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Incredibly moist and tender meat – Sous vide cooking at relatively low temperatures like 140-150°F results in turkey that is much moister and more tender compared to high heat roasting. The turkey comes out succulent and almost melts in your mouth!
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Juicy throughout – Unlike oven roasting where the outer layers of meat dry out, sous vide turkey breast is evenly moist and juicy from edge to edge.
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Foolproof results – Sous vide takes all the guesswork out of getting the turkey breast perfectly cooked. There’s no worrying about over or undercooking!
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Holds well after cooking – Turkey breast cooked sous vide holds up great for meal prepping. Simply chill it after cooking, then reheat it later in the week while maintaining moisture and texture.
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Infuses flavor – Seasonings and aromatics in the bag have hours to fully penetrate and infuse into the turkey breast.
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Cooks evenly – No thick or thin ends to worry about. The gentle sous vide circulating water bath cooks the turkey breast evenly from all sides.
Choosing the Right Sous Vide Turkey Breast Temperature
The sous vide temperature you cook the turkey breast at determines the final texture and juiciness. Here are some common sous vide turkey breast temperatures and what to expect:
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136-140°F (58-60°C) – Extremely juicy with a soft, gelatinous texture. Ideal if you like very tender, almost raw poultry.
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141-145°F (61-63°C) – Juicy with a smooth, silky texture. Most people’s favorite doneness for tender but cooked turkey breast.
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146-150°F (63-66°C) – Firm yet still moist, similar to properly cooked traditional turkey breast. Best for those who prefer well done poultry.
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150-155°F (66-68°C) – Drier, dense texture with a more pronounced chicken-like flavor. Use only if you like very well done turkey.
For sous vide beginners, I recommend starting at 145°F (63°C) which produces a nice medium doneness turkey breast with great moisture and texture. But feel free to experiment with different temperatures to find your personal preference. The great thing about sous vide is it allows you to fine tune doneness very precisely.
How Long to Cook Sous Vide Turkey Breast
The cooking time for sous vide turkey breast depends on the thickness and your desired level of tenderness. Here are some general guidelines:
- 1-2 inches thick – Cook for 2 to 4 hours
- 3 inches thick – Cook for 4 to 6 hours
- 4 inches thick – Cook for 6 to 8 hours
To pasteurize the turkey for food safety, you need to cook at the times listed below based on thickness and temperature:
| Thickness | 136°F (58°C) | 140°F (60°C) | 145°F (63°C) | 150°F (66°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 inch | 2.5 hours | 1.5 hours | 1 hour | 45 minutes |
| 2 inches | 5 hours | 3 hours | 2 hours | 1.5 hours |
| 3 inches | 8 hours | 5 hours | 3 hours | 2.5 hours |
| 4 inches | 12 hours | 8 hours | 5 hours | 3.5 hours |
Keep in mind that longer cook times will result in increasingly tender turkey breast. I like to go 6-8 hours for super tender meat but 2-4 hours gives great results too.
Food Safety Tips for Sous Vide Turkey
To cook sous vide turkey breast safely:
- Cook at 136°F (58°C) or higher to pasteurize
- Use the cooking times listed above based on thickness
- Pre-sear poultry before bagging to help kill surface bacteria
- Chill and refrigerate leftovers promptly
As long as these guidelines are followed, sous vide turkey cooked for the recommended time and temperature is just as safe as traditional methods. However, since turkey is particularly prone to harboring salmonella and other bacteria, it’s better to err on the side of caution when sous viding it.
How to Get Crispy Turkey Skin After Sous Vide
One downside of sous vide turkey breast is that the skin doesn’t get crispy in the bag. But here are some ways to make the skin crispy after cooking sous vide:
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Broil or pan fry – Broil the turkey skin-side up or pan fry skin-side down to crisp it.
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Bake – Bake the turkey breast skin-side up at 400°F until the skin is browned and crispy.
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Torch – Use a cooking torch to quickly crisp and brown the skin.
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Remove skin before – Take off the skin before sous vide, then crisp it separately.
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Crisp later – Cook the whole breast sous vide, chill it, then remove and crisp the skin.
Flavoring Your Sous Vide Turkey Breast
To make your sous vide turkey breast even more delicious, keep these flavor tips in mind:
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Brine the turkey before cooking to infuse moisture and seasoning. A basic brine of salt, sugar, and aromatics works great.
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Season aggressively. The extended cook time allows for very bold seasoning that fully penetrates the meat.
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Add aromatics like whole garlic cloves, fresh herbs, citrus slices, peppers, etc.
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Use seasoning blends like poultry seasoning, jerk seasoning, BBQ rubs, etc.
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Inject marinades with a sauce syringe for added moisture and flavor.
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Sear/torch thoroughly after cooking to add a flavorful browned crust.
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Make a pan sauce with the sous vide juices to serve over the turkey.
Common Sous Vide Turkey Breast Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some common mistakes and how to prevent them:
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Overcooking – Use shorter cook times and lower temperatures like 140-145°F to prevent drying out.
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Underseasoning – Turkey benefits from aggressive seasoning. Don’t be shy with spices and herbs!
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Poor sealing – Use a vacuum sealer or properly displace air from bags. Exposure to air causes off flavors.
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No aromatics – Add things like garlic, citrus, or fresh herbs to infuse big flavor.
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Insufficient searing – A hot hard sear is key for nicely browned, flavorful exterior.
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No chilling – Chill within 1 hour after cooking if not eating right away to prevent bacteria growth.
Serving Suggestions for Sous Vide Turkey Breast
Here are some tasty ways to serve your cooked sous vide turkey breast:
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Slice and eat plain, seasoned only with salt and pepper
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Add to sandwiches, wraps, pitas, or flatbreads
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Dice or shred for salads, soups, casseroles, and stir fries
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Pair with traditional Thanksgiving sides like stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce
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Make turkey breast tacos or burrito bowls with veggies and rice
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Slice and serve over fresh greens for a salad
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Cube the turkey for kabobs or skewers
Sous Vide Turkey Breast Recipes
To get you started, here are some stellar sous vide turkey breast recipes to try:
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Sous Vide Turkey Breast with Gravy – Crispy skin and rich gravy makes this a winner.
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[Jerk Turkey Breast](https://www.seriouseats.com
Why Should You Sous Vide Turkey?
Roasting a whole turkey in the oven can be fickle and frustrating. For one thing, many oven temperatures aren’t actually very accurate and the heat isn’t always evenly distributed, making it difficult to know exactly how your turkey will turn out. And turkey itself can be tricky: white meat (like turkey breast) cooks at a lower temperature than dark meat (like turkey legs or thighs). In practice, this usually results in unappetizing, dry breast meat that’s been overcooked at the expense of ensuring the dark meat is cooked enough. Or worse, undercooked dark meat (which can be a health hazard) for the sake of a moist turkey breast. The solution to this age-old dilemma? Separating white and dark meat and using different methods for each: dark meat in the oven because it’s more forgiving when it comes to roasting, and white meat in the sous vide water bath to ensure it stays juicy, tender, and cooked evenly.
While a proper sous vide machine or immersion circulator will make the whole process easier, it’s not necessary: you can cook turkey using a large pot of water on the stove and a digital thermometer to create a temperature-controlled water bath. No matter your equipment of choice, you’ll also need a sous vide bag. Look for vacuum seal bags that are big enough for what youre cooking, able to withstand hot water, and fully leak proof so that the water doesn’t seep into the bag and result in soggy, boiled meat. In other words? Skip the unsustainable single-use plastic bags and grab a large Stasher bag like the Stand-Up Mega Bag or a big Stasher bowl like the 8-Cup Bowl. The durable, food-grade platinum silicone is heatproof up to 425° Fahrenheit – well beyond the temperature of our water bath! And unlike other reusable bags and bowls, Stasher reusables are leak-free with a patented Pinch-Loc® seal that won’t let anything in — or out — of the bag. (Basically the sous vide method’s match made in heaven.)
You’ll also need a rimmed cookie sheet for roasting the turkey skin separately (if you prefer), and a roasting pan for dark meat, if you’re serving that too.
How to Sous Vide Turkey Breast
To get started, break down the turkey by white and dark meat if you’re cooking a whole bird. And if you’re Team Crispy Skin, you’ll want to carefully remove the skin in one piece. To do so, slide your thumb under the skin and gently pull it up while pushing it away from the breastbone and to the neck – you can then peel the skin down the turkey breast to the wings.
Next, preheat the water. If you’re using an immersion circulator, you can set the specific temperature you need (more on that in a minute!) right on the display, or on a corresponding phone app if your machine is equipped with bluetooth. If you’re using the pot and digital thermometer method, experiment with the dial on your stove top until the digital thermometer in the pot of water hits the temperature you’re looking for.
The FDA recommends that poultry be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F to destroy salmonella, which is a heat-resistant pathogen found in raw poultry meat and eggs. However this temperature can lead to a dryer turkey breast meat – even if you’re using the sous vide method instead of roasting. Many home chefs believe that extended cooking at lower temperatures is just as safe as shorter cook time at higher temperatures. (Want to learn more? The folks at Serious Eats have a seriously informative breakdown of how turkey pasteurization works.)
Below, you’ll find the temperatures and corresponding cook times that are popular with sous vide enthusiasts so you can choose one that’s best for you and your family.
- Water bath: 138°F
- Internal temperature: 136°F
- Cook time after reaching internal temperature: 1 hour
- Total cook time: about 3 hours
- Water bath: 145°F
- Internal temperature: 143°F
- Cook time after reaching internal temperature: 16 minutes
- Total cook time: about 2.5 hours
- Water bath: 152°F
- Internal temperature: 150°F
- Cook time after reaching internal temperature: 4 minutes
- Total cook time: about 2 hours
- Water bath: 167°F
- Internal temperature: 165°F
- Cook time after reaching internal temperature: 10 seconds
- Total cook time: about 1 hour and 45 minutes
While the water preheats, season the white meat turkey pieces with salt and pepper and place them in a large Stasher bag or bowl, leaving the top unzipped. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer machine, you can use the water displacement method for removing excess air from the bag before sealing it off. The method is simple: lower the opened Stasher bag or bowl slowly into the water bath, being careful to not let any water slip inside the bag. Once the water level is as close as possible to the very top of the bag zipper, close it tightly. The water pressure squeezes the air out of the bag, allowing you to get a nice vacuum seal without fancy tools.
Once your water bath has reached your desired temperature, it’s time to start cooking. Place the Stasher bag into the water bath, making sure that the water level is above the meat. If it’s not, you can use silicone covered cooking weights inside the bag to weigh down the turkey breast, or metal clothespins attached to the bag and side of the pot to keep everything submerged.
The temperature that you sent the water at will determine the cook time, so refer to the chart above to know how long to set a timer for. (The beauty of the sous vide method, though, is that leaving your turkey in the water bath a little longer won’t overcook it, unlike leaving it in the oven for longer than intended.
When the time is up, use tongs to carefully remove Stasher bag from the hot water bath and transfer that bag (still zipped up) to a bowl of cold water. This gets the turkey breast to a temperature where you can more comfortably handle it, but it also helps cool down meat so that you can then sear it or reheat it in the oven without raising the temperature further and overcooking it. There will be turkey drippings in the Stasher bag – be sure to save these, because you can add them to gravy for extra flavor. (And if you plan to reheat the turkey in the oven, a generous splash of turkey drippings helps the turkey breast from drying out in the process.)
As the turkey cools, spread the skin in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil on high for a few minutes until crispy. Be sure to stand right next to the oven and keep the oven light on because things can burn quickly with the broiler. So if you’re tempted to walk away from the kitchen for a minute, don’t do it!
If you aren’t eating right away, then you can reheat the sous vide turkey breast by popping it back into the water bath at 145°F for about 45 minutes, or in the oven at 325°F for about a half hour.
To serve, place the crispy skin on top of the sous vide turkey breast, or served to the side. Add fresh herbs, thyme, rosemary, sage, as garnish, alongside your favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
Sous vide turkey breast (a delicious sous vide Thanksgiving dish) with cooking temperature + time!
FAQ
How long does it take to sous vide a turkey breast?
| Sous Vide Turkey Temperatures and Times | ||
|---|---|---|
| Very pink, soft, extra moist | 132°F (56°C) | 4 hours |
| Pale pink, soft, moist | 138°F (59°C) | 3 hours |
| White, tender, moist | 145°F (63°C) | 2 1/2 hours |
| White; traditional roast texture | 152°F (67°C) | 2 hours |
What is the best temperature for moist turkey breast?
Rub mayonnaise all over turkey’s exterior. Salt and pepper lightly if desired. Roast at 300°-325°F until internal temperature reaches 170°F on an instant read thermometer. (I raise the temperature to 350° for the last approximate 30-45 minutes to crisp skin).
How long does it take to cook a 5 pound turkey breast?
Generally speaking, a good rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound of turkey breast at 350°F. A lower temperature would increase your cooking time and a higher temperature will cook the meat faster. Also bear in mind that bone-in turkey breast takes longer to cook than boneless.
How do you cook the turkey so that the breast doesn’t dry out?
The light, tender breast meat is prone to overcooking, while dark meat portions of the bird needs extra time. A simple solution is to flip the bird over and roast the turkey upside down. This technique protects the white meat from drying out, and cooks the thigh meat faster.
How do you cook a turkey breast in a sous vide?
Step 1- Prep work. Preheat the sous vide water bath to 145F/65C. Step 2- Season the turkey. Season both sides of the turkey breast with salt and pepper. Step 3- Seal the turkey. Place the seasoned turkey breast in a bag along with the lemon slices, rosemary, and butter. Vacuum seal the bag. Step 4- Cook the turkey.
How do you sous vide a Turkey?
Preheat the sous vide water bath to 145F/65C. Step 2- Season the turkey. Season both sides of the turkey breast with salt and pepper. Step 3- Seal the turkey. Place the seasoned turkey breast in a bag along with the lemon slices, rosemary, and butter. Vacuum seal the bag. Step 4- Cook the turkey.
Can you cook a sus vide turkey breast?
Once the turkey is cooked, you can sear it in a pan, roast or broil in the oven, or use a kitchen torch to achieve the skin of your dreams. A Sous Vide Turkey Breast is a great option if you don’t want to roast a whole bird. Sous Vide cooking ensures the turkey is tender, succulent and unbelievably flavorful.
Can You sous vide a frozen turkey breast?
Cooking From Frozen: You can sous vide cook a frozen turkey breast by adding 1 hour to the total cook time in the recipe. Searing Options: In addition to searing in a hot skillet, you can also brown the turkey skin under a broiler, on an outdoor grill, or even use a kitchen torch for a quick sear.
What is a sus vide turkey breast?
A Sous Vide Turkey Breast is a great option if you don’t want to roast a whole bird. Sous Vide cooking ensures the turkey is tender, succulent and unbelievably flavorful. Don’t believe me? Try it! You will be so amazed that this might become your new family tradition.
How do you make a sous vide turkey breast taste better?
To make your sous vide turkey breast even more delicious, keep these flavor tips in mind: Brine the turkey before cooking to infuse moisture and seasoning. A basic brine of salt, sugar, and aromatics works great. Season aggressively. The extended cook time allows for very bold seasoning that fully penetrates the meat.